Pieces
by Ash-Varnei
Summary: It wasn't necessarily their song. But it was Tony's song; Tony's song to Pepper. So Pepper nods, too choked up to speak. Tony hugs her closer, arms tightening around her securely. When the lyrics start he joins in, his voice reassuring and soft in Pepper's ear. - Tony sings to Pepper as the world ends.


**Story from a post on tumblr: Imagine your OTP slow-dancing to a love song, with Person A quietly singing the words in Person B's ear. AND imagine this happening during the apocalypse and they both know they're going to die soon**

**Song: Pieces by red**

The end came too soon.

Pepper's struggling to hold back her tears, so Jarvis fills the bare room with music and Tony pulls her into his arms, swaying gently. He says nothing, but his silence speaks volumes: his guilt, his loss, his fear. Pepper lays her head on his shoulder and just holds onto him.

Pepper's tears fall and Tony falls apart on the inside. The music soothes them both; there's no panic, they're calm. Waiting.

It feels like they stand there for hours, just waiting. Then familiar chords of music echo through the room and Tony smiles at Pepper, that smile that looks almost so sad, almost heartbroken, with desperate love in his eyes. It's the way he looks at her when he thinks he's failed her. "It's our song."

It wasn't necessarily their song. But it was Tony's song; Tony's song to Pepper. So Pepper nods, too choked up to speak. Tony hugs her closer, arms tightening around her securely. When the lyrics start he joins in, his voice reassuring and soft in Pepper's ear.

_I'm here again  
A thousand miles away from you  
A broken mess, just scattered pieces of who I am_

Pepper remembers coming home to Tony at the piano. It had been one of his darker days, not long after New York. They'd fought that morning. He'd looked up at her with a painfilled smile, and sung her this song.

_I tried so hard  
Thought I could do this on my own  
I've lost so much along the way_

Pepper has always loved it when Tony sings. It's a part of himself he never shows to anyone else. It's the part of him that feels the most real. It's the secret part of him Pepper loves the most.

_Then I see your face  
I know I'm finally yours  
I find everything I thought I lost before  
You call my name  
I come to you in pieces  
So you can make me whole_

Tony's trembling slightly as he sings. Pepper buries her face in his shoulder to hide the tears.

_I've come undone  
But you make sense of who I am  
Like puzzle pieces in your hand_

There's a lump in Tony's throat, it makes the words sound raw and new and real. And Tony's never meant them more than he does now.

_Then I see your face  
I know I'm finally yours  
I find everything I thought I lost before  
You call my name  
I come to you in pieces  
So you can make me whole_

Tony speaks when there's a break in the song. "Hey, Pep?"

Nobody else would have been able to detect the tremor in Tony's voice, but Pepper can. She holds him tighter, barely moving now, but still just about swaying in time to the music. "Yeah?"

"Marry me." There's a catch in his voice, and Pepper turns her face into his neck, holding back the tears. It's a promise for a tomorrow they don't have.

"Yes," she breathes, as the music crescendos. "Yes."

For a moment they can pretend that the world isn't ending. They can imagine a hall filled with friends and slow music playing, Pepper in a white dress and Tony in a tux, holding each other just like this on a dance floor. They can imagine being together, just as they've always been, growing old together and arguing and loving and living.

For a moment, their world stretches on forever, their story never forgotten in history. For a moment, they are legends.

_I tried so hard, so hard  
I tried so hard_

They cling to each other as the world burns. They're holding tightly as they take their last breath. As the world falls to pieces and the inhabitants of Earth are erased and forgotten.

_Then I see your face  
I know I'm finally yours  
I find everything I thought I lost before  
You call my name  
I come to you in pieces  
So you can make me whole_

In that moment, they're just Tony and Pepper.

Pepper doesn't hear Tony stop singing.

_So you can make me whole_


End file.
